10 Things I'd Like My Readers To Know About Me By Alexandra Silber

Alexandra Silber writes a piece for us upon the release of her new book After Anatevka: A Novel Inspired by "Fiddler on the Roof".

I went to drama school in Glasgow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before living in London and working the West End for several years.

Alexandra Silber

I have a (fabulous, diva, rescued) cat named Tatiana Angela Lansbury Romanov. She is a star (cue: Mama Rose music)!! She has her own Instagram page, which is: photographs of “Tati” (as I call her) with theatrical captions called @ifeelkitty. You’re welcome.

I am fascinated by all things Russian— from their rich history to their literature, arts, music and culture. It might be soaked in controversy, strife and struggle, but it continues to draw my attention even in today’s deeply complex times. Perhaps that is one of the many reasons I felt moved to write After Anatevka— it was my “great Russian novel,” an homage to the Russian literary greats that have so shaped and influenced me.

I love to leave little poems written on snatches of napkin, say, in utterly unexpected locations for people to find. I call this? Guerrilla Poetry. I hope it brightens someone's day.

I’m in Introvert. In fact, according to the Myers Briggs personality test I’m an INFJ (which is a very rare personality type, about 2% of the world’s population). Many people challenge me on this, based on their mis-impressions of not only me, but introverts in general. Introverts are not necessarily aloof, shy, people-hating trolls, we simply recharge our personal batteries in solitude. Despite my highly developed extrovert behavior, I still require (and enjoy!) lots of time alone to process life.

I am really good at pinball. In fact: I highly recommend not challenging me to a duel.

My favourite food in all the whole wide world is watermelon. I could eat it all day every day. For every meal. Forever.

I was born in Los Angeles California, and grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan.

I have a mysterious connection to the letter "J." Excluding a few key people, the majority of the major players in my life along the way have had “J” names, or had some connection to the letter J themselves. Examples:

Childhood best friend: Jessica.

Childhood boyfriend: James.

First proper boyfriend: Jeremey.

Brother: Jordan.

Love of my youth: Justin.

The one that got away: Jim.

I have taken over (in various ways) from a Jill a Jyoti and a Justine. I've been taught very important things by two Jeans, two Judys and a Julia, and of course, played Julie Jordan opposite Jeremiah James.

What about your Parents Mike and Catherine? Their names don't start with J, I hear you ask. That would be why in adolescence I called them "Jom" and "Jad."

I have been fortunate enough to play two of Tevye’s daughters, one on each side of the Atlantic— the first was in the West End, portraying After Anatevka’s protagonist Hodel (the second-eldest daughter of Shalom Aleichem’s Tevye the Dairyman who is the star of the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof), the next was Tzeitl, Tevye’s eldest daughter on Broadway in the most recent Broadway revival.

Portraying both characters for such lengths of time, and with such incomparable creative teams and casts, informed, inspired and shaped the writing of After Anatevka: it truly was a journey from stage to page.

After Anatevka is published by Pegasus Books (W.W. Norton & Company Ltd.), £20.99, http://wwnorton.co.uk/books/9781681774343-after-anatevka.